Served in Scottish Shortbread “cups”, these appetizers are sticky, salty-sweet and delicious, especially during the holidays. Shortbread has been around for many centuries, thought to have originated in Scotland as a specifically designed biscuit using yeast. Over time, the base of this recipe has evolved into 1 part sugar, 2 parts butter and 3 parts flour, with additions to match desired tastes. Taste the flavor of Scotland, YANKED!.
Nonstick cooking spray
Savory Shortbread Crust:
1/4 cup butter or margarine, room temperature
6 tablespoons flavored cream cheese, room temperature *
6 tablespoons flour
Filling:
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1 strip bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F. Grease a 6-cup mini muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray; set aside. Beat all crust ingredients together with an electric mixer until it forms a dough. Pinch off 6 equal-sized balls of dough. Between 2 sheets of film wrap, roll each ball of dough out into a circle just large enough to cover the bottom of muffin cups and up the sides about an inch. Line each of the prepared muffin cups with rolled out dough; set aside.
For the filling, beat all ingredients together with an electric mixer until well combined. Divide filling among the 6 lined muffin cups. The filling may come up over the sides of the dough slightly, but that is fine.
Bake 18-20 minutes, or until the center of the filling is firm. Remove from oven to cool slightly before lifting out to cool enough to serve.
* Chose whatever you desire. I used garden vegetable cream cheese, but there is such a variety, I hesitate to begin naming all of them.
Makes 6.